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Guerra to miss three months with blood clot

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Right-hander Deolis Guerra suffered a blood clot in his right shoulder and is expected to be out about three months, Twins general manager Terry Ryan announced Saturday.

Guerra was diagnosed by Twins doctors in Fort Myers, Fla., and will be hospitalized for a few days to allow the blood clot to dissipate. But he's also set to undergo surgery -- a rib resection -- which will remove part of his first rib to give his artery more room.

"They're going to monitor that situation for about another maybe day or two and then he'll get out," Ryan said. "And then eventually we'll have to have some surgery on that."

Guerra initially felt numbness in his shoulder while in Puerto Rico as he was set to pitch for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. He last pitched in an exhibition game for Venezuela against the Mets in Port St. Lucie on Wednesday, and gave up two runs on three hits in one inning.

Guerra, who was acquired by the Twins in 2008 in the trade that sent Johan Santana to the Mets, had a 4.11 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 70 innings split between Double-A New Britain and Triple-A Rochester last season. He's not on the club's 40-man roster and he was expected to start the season at Triple-A Rochester.

"Obviously the kid is disappointed," Ryan said. "We'll do everything to take care of it, and he'll be healthy again, he'll be pitching again. It's not like this is anything that's going to end his career."